


Derek Hale and the No-Good, Inappropriate, Embarrassing Crush on Mr. Stilinski, AP USH Teacher

by askshirley56



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Teacher Stiles, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 07:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4010581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/askshirley56/pseuds/askshirley56
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>APUSH is a hard enough class to get through; Derek's heard the rumours.  9.999 times out of 10, you get the boring, old, hard-ass teacher, the kind that never leaves school, who practically kills you and your GPA before you even make it to the Second Great Awakening. Most classes get cut in half by the end of semester, and most of the drops are in the first few weeks. As if that's not bad enough, this year's APUSH teacher's going to be fresh out of college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AKA the fic I wrote my junior year of high school, based on my friend's superbly ridiculous crush on our teacher and the struggles of APUSH. 
> 
> Yes I had a teacher that allowed us to use his first name outside of class hours.
> 
> This is abandoned, I just wanted to have a fic under this name. If I ever get inspired I might finish this, but as for now it is an unfinished story about a high school boy with a one-sided crush on his teacher.

Derek swears the only reason he exists is because the universe wants to completely fuck him over. 

He's 17 and his voice still cracks, he's got the most embarrassing bunny teeth, and he's been told on more than one occasion that his eyebrows are slowly but surely swallowing his face. He's gotten shoved against his locker more times than he could count. He gets great grades, but with great grades comes huge-ass expectations, namely the bane of every junior's existence-

Advanced Placement US History

Why Derek puts himself through this torture he'll never say, but the heavy workload will give him an excuse to not have any friends, and extra college credit never killed anybody, right?

Wrong.

APUSH is a hard enough class to get through; Derek's heard the rumours. 9.999 times out of 10, you get the boring, old, hard-ass teacher, the kind that never leaves school, who practically kills you and your GPA before you even make it to the Second Great Awakening. Most classes get cut in half by the end of semester, and most of the drops are in the first few weeks. As if that's not bad enough, this year's APUSH teacher's going to be fresh out of college. 

Now there are two types of fresh out of college teachers: the ones that want to be your friend and the ones that try too hard. Half the time, they turn into the latter by semester because of trouble with administration. Derek loathes new teachers in both their forms because no one takes them seriously (to be fair, he's included in that group). This leaves Derek to fend for himself in class. 

So yeah, too long; didn't read? Junior year's going to suck. 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

Derek's predictions for this year are already coming true, and it isn't even 8 o'clock yet. What better way to start the year than by almost getting run over by a jeep that's probably older than he is? Derek will gladly let you know, once the parking lot stops spinning. 

"Holy jeez, are you alright?!" Oh, god, someone- most likely the driver of that godforsaken vehicle- is yelling. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," He's still in one piece; the car didn't hit him. Derek just saw it and, in an attempt to get out of the way, drifted his bike too hard and fell off. He's pretty sure he hit his head, but he's wearing a helmet. He silently goes through his full name, birthday, and address to check for any damage. He blinks a couple of times, adjusting his vision and focusing on the guy standing in front of him.

Oh, fuck no. 

This guy, has got to be one of the most attractive guys Derek's ever seen. He's not even big and masculine, he's actually pretty lean. He's got a young face and a cute upturned nose and mesmerizing light brown eyes. When he takes his hand to get up, he finds the guy has a pretty firm grip too. The cut of his deep blue button down is really slim fitting and, is that a frickin' bowtie AND a sweater? How is life even fair? For all he's dressed like a dork this guy looks like frickin' Peter Parker. He even had the hair going on, a little bit. Derek would bet all kinds of money he's some cool senior, or a college guy dropping off his baby sister to school. And here Derek is, falling off his bike in front of him. 

"I'm really sorry about this. I should have been paying more attention. First day jitters," the guy laughs sheepishly. "You sure you're alright? Do i have to take you to the nurse?"

"No," Derek blushes as his voice cracks and makes the word two syllables. He clears his throat. "No, I'm fine. You weren't even close to me." The guy looks visibly relieved. He extends his hand to Derek. 

"Stiles Stilinski," he smiles. Derek shakes his hand and manages his name without too much cracking. Stiles eyes him, bemused, before getting back into his car. 

"I should probably park this now before it becomes a speed bump." As he turns on the ignition, he calls out. "See you in class, Derek Hale!"

Derek looks at him, curiously. His heart thudded in his chest at the thought of sharing a class with Stiles, but Beacon Hills High School is pretty big; he's probably not going to see him again except in passing. 

Why'd Stiles seem so certain he'd see him?

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

"So uh, afternoon class! I'm Stiles Stilinski, your new APUSH teacher."

Oh, that's why. 

Derek can't stop staring. Stiles- Mr. Stilinski- could still pass as a high schooler. He looks like he should be working at some coffee shop on Friday afternoons, not teaching Advanced Placement. 

"You can call me Mr. S, or Mr. Stiles if you feel like it," he continues, handing out the American Pageant. "I get that I probably don't look that much older than you guys, but let's set some ground rules. You respect me; I respect you. You're going to have homework every night," a collective groan from the class. "But you all expected that didn't you? After all, this is an AP class.

"I remember taking this class, so I know how difficult this is going to be for all of us, but I'm going to try to make this as fun as I can.

"While I know I'm your teacher, I also want to be your friend. My classroom will always be a safe place if you need it. I have a zero tolerance policy on bullying." 

How is Derek supposed to concentrate in class when he gets lost in Stiles' - Mr. Stilinski's- eyes if he looks too long? Derek looks around the room to find that, well, at least he's not alone in the sentiment. When his eyes lock with Stiles- Mr. Stilinski, oh god this is weird, he smiles like they have a secret before asking for the summer essays. 

This is going to be a long year. 

 

By the time October rolls around, Derek's got a handle on his schedule and is managing pretty well. He still sits with Erica, Isaac, and Boyd at lunch. They're not friends, exactly. It's more like they all don't have friends, so they sit together to look a little less pathetic. Because the Seizure Girl, the Nerd, the Fat Kid, and the Freak all sitting at one table is less pathetic. Whatever. Derek gets Isaac's chocolate pudding out of it. 

Erica is also in APUSH, and she's also got a massive crush on Mr. S. She likes to try and bond with Derek over it, but Derek will deny any bonding has occurred over Mr. S whatsoever. 

But he'll admit that APUSH isn't as bad as he originally thought. 

The American Pageant reads as amusingly as a history book can. After lessons, Mr. S puts on Liberty Kids (shut up, everyone loved that show) for "educational purposes". Unlike other teachers, he allows them to eat in class. He even sells granola bars and bottles of water in class. The kids who get the highest scores on the previous day's quiz get to sit on the sofa on the far side of the room. On the first day, he bet the class that if they all get 5's on at least one essay on any of the tests, he'll wear a chicken suit for the entire day and buy them donuts. They haven't gotten it yet- the class is still a challenge- but it convinces the students to help each other and study. 

What surprises Derek is that, for as friendly and ridiculous Mr. S is, he's still respectable. He actually knows what he's talking about it, and is willing to explain different ideologies for each time period. He really means his zero tolerance policy, and has sent kids to detention immediately for harassing Erica before class. The class respects him for it, the guys think he's cool and Derek's heard multiple girls (and a guy or two) say they'd be willing to stay after class for "extra credit". But Mr. S is a model teacher. He spends time grading each test and essay and still manages to have them passed back within the week. Derek's heart definitely does not flutter whenever he sees "very insightful!" Or "I look forward to your point of view every unit" on his essays. 

Definitely not. 

\------------------------------------------------------------

The thing Derek likes about school is that he can pretend to have a normal life there. He can pretend to have normal kid problems. When you're so focused on cramming for the Brit Lit quiz, you tend to push home life aside. It's easy to pretend that he's just a nerd and the worst thing he has to deal with is some shoving in the halls. 

But that doesn't mean Derek can avoid the truth entirely. It's always there, in his peripherals, seeping in through the cracks in the classroom walls. 

The truth is this: Derek Hale killed his parents.

His therapist tells him otherwise, that the driver who hit them was drunk, but that doesn't mean anything. Derek had put them in that car. He killed them. It's just a fact, like gravity. Natural, like breathing, if breathing always felt like he was shoving glass shards down his throat. 

So Derek tries and takes things one day at a time. Today, he lives in a loft with his deadbeat Uncle Peter and his eleven year old sister Cora. Just like he has been for the past 3 years. 

Derek is half reading his anatomy book, half making sandwiches for lunch (Tuna for himself, grilled cheese for Cora, PBJ for Isaac as a thanks for the pudding) when Cora trudges down from her room. 

"Morning, Cora. Grilled cheese for lunch okay?" If Cora hears him, she doesn't acknowledge him, only sits at the dining table and stares at her pancakes. Derek finishes packing the lunches, washes his hands, and stands behind Cora at the table. He separates her hair into three parts, and begins to braid her hair. He keeps talking. "So this weekend, do you want to go get your Halloween costume?"

Silence. 

"It's coming up in a couple weeks. We should go before all the good ones are taken."

Silence. 

"What do you want to be this year? An astronaut? A witch?" 

Silence.

"You've gotta give me something here Cora," Derek pleads, and he's only partly talking about the costume. 

More silence. 

She doesn't even touch her food. Derek resists the urge to tear his hair out. She's been getting worse lately, closing in deeper on herself. Sometimes Derek wishes she would scream at him, tell him she hates him, kick him, anything except this dead, accepting silence. 

Footsteps. Peter's awake early. 

"Good morning, nephew," Peter hums as he comes down from his room. Derek grunts in response. "And little niece." Cora doesn't even blink. "No response of course," Peter sighs and snatches a pancake off her plate.

"That's Cora's," Derek growls. Peter takes a substantially large bite. 

"It's not like she's going to eat it." 

"Maybe she would if you'd make your own goddamn breakfast." 

"We both know that's not true. She ought to know by now," Peter pets her head. "That the strong are the ones who survive and the weak die."

"Shut up." Derek digs his fingers into the kitchen counter, fighting the urge to punch Peter in the face. Peter shrugs and finishes off his pancake. Derek can hear the bus pulling up to the stop at the end of the street. "Okay, Cora, bus is here. You remember everything?" Cora slides her backpack on, but says nothing. Derek hands her her lunchbox. "Please try to finish your food this time." He kisses the top of her head. "Stay safe, okay? I love you." She blinks dully at him and walks towards the bus. 

"She's only getting worse," Peter says conversationally when Derek gets back into the house. 

"You aren't helping her; you don't even care," Derek throws back, but there's no real bite to it. He's exhausted and it's only breakfast. 

"I know when to throw in the towel. I know a lost cause when I see one."

"She's not a lost cause!" Derek slams a fist on the countertop. "It's faint, but she's still there, she has to be! I can't lose anyone else..." He can feel his throat spasming and tears threatening; he has to leave now. "I'm gonna be late," he mumbles, grabbing his helmet off the table and bolting through the door. 

She's not a lost cause. Derek's not even sure he believes that anymore. He's been getting calls from Cora's teachers lately, saying she has passable grade, but she's becoming more withdrawn, she has trouble connecting with the other students and is everything alright at home? And how is he supposed to answer that? Yes, everything's fine, she's just living with her parents' murderer and an uncle whose just counting the days until he'll find her in the bathtub with her wrists slit? He can't give up on her yet. He just can't.

Derek doesn't even realize he's at school until he finds himself in Mr. Stilinski's classroom doorway 45 minutes before school starts. Mr. S is sitting at his desk, tests and essays scattered around him. He's looking at Derek now, eyebrows raised.

"Derek, this is a surprise. What are you doing here so early?" 

Derek registers that he's being spoken to but he all he can hear is the blood rushing in his ears.

"I...I just..." 

Mr. Stiles is standing now, walking towards Derek. "What's wrong?" 

Derek takes a deep, shaky breath. "You said we could come to you.. That your room is a safe place..." Mr. S nods his head furiously, puts a hand on Derek shoulder. It's been a long time since someone tried to touch Derek; it should feel weird and wrong, but it's not. It's comforting, and Mr. S is looking at him like nothing else mattered to him but Derek. For the first time in a long time, Derek feels safe. He trusts Mr. S. 

So Derek tells Mr. S everything. 

He tells him about his parents. He tells him how, when he was 14, he had a girlfriend in New York named Kate. She was older, more experienced and he wanted to impress her. So he got his parents tickets to a show, pulled a lot of strings. He told them they deserved a night out. Three kids were a lot of work for two people, after all. They had called him such a thoughtful son. He dropped Cora off at a sleepover and practically bribed Laura out of the house so he and Kate would be alone. But his parents never made it home that night. He killed his parents just so he could have sex. What kind of thoughtful son was he? 

And Kate? Kate leaves, and Derek can’t even blame her, because she was a senior with her whole life ahead of her and, hey, it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it, kid? 

Derek tells him about Laura, who never said anything but he knew she blamed him. He could feel it in the way she wouldn’t look him in the eye at dinner for six months after they died, in how she left for school one gray November morning and never came back. 

Derek tells him about Peter, his mother’s estranged brother who came back only to sign his name on the dotted line to collect life insurance. He’s only their legal guardian, but he doesn’t care, he never cared. He’s only here for the money, he’s a deadbeat and he’s shady, and Derek doesn’t trust him and he hates him, but he can’t make him leave because he’s lost too much already and if he goes they’ll take Cora.

Derek tells him about Cora, who hasn’t so much as looked at him since the day their parents died. Even when it seems like she’s looking at him, she’s not. She’s always looking past him, as if he isn’t even there, when in reality it’s the other way around. And he tries so hard to be a good brother, the best big brother Cora could ask for. He makes her all her favorites for lunch and dinner and he bikes to the Walmart on the opposite side of town just to get those Oreos covered in white chocolate that she loved when she was 8. He asked Erica to teach him how to French braid so he can do it in the mornings for Cora, just like their mom used to. He works hard in school and takes all AP classes so he can save money in college. He works at the Dairy Queen on the weekends and deals with abuse so he can buy her birthday gifts and Christmas gifts and Halloween costumes but she just doesn’t notice because she’s gone too. And she’s only eleven, son of a bitch, she’s just a little kid, and so is Derek and life just isn’t fair. 

Derek tells him about himself, how he hasn’t had a solid night of sleep in 3 years. How, to this day, he has nightmares of watching his parents in that crash. How he still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming I’m sorry. How, sometimes, he doesn’t even know why he bothers any more, because no matter how many Christmas presents he buys Cora, no matter how good he is at French braiding, no matter how many Mickey Mouse pancakes he makes, he can’t bring back their parents. 

And Mr. S- Stiles- just takes it all in. He doesn’t judge him or pity him, doesn’t lie to him and tell him everything will work out. He just sits beside him on the sofa, rubbing slow, gentle circles on his back. He lets Derek cry into his shoulder until all he feels is exhaustion. It’s warm in Mr. S’s arms, comforting, and Derek can feel his eyelids droop and he lets them, along with his guard, down in front of Mr. S, and his last coherent thought before finally passing out is, huh, this is what love feels like.

When Derek wakes up, he’s in the nurse’s office with Erica sitting in a chair next to him. She looks at him warily, shoulders hunched over; a couple of manila folders sit in her lap. 

“You missed APUSH,” she says, her mouth quirking up quickly. Derek rubs his eyes, turns over, and props his head on his hand so he can look at her easier. 

“What else did I miss?”

“Every class but PE,” she hands the folders over to him. He’s slept through almost all of school today, then. “Mr. S told me to keep an eye on you, said you weren’t feeling well. These are from your other classes.” Derek takes the folders, flips through them. He doesn’t even share most of these classes with Erica. She had gone out of her way to get these.

“Thanks,” he responds, a little awed. Erica shrugs, but she looks pleased he recognizes the effort. 

“Hey, what are friends for, y’know?”  
“Friends?” It comes out before Derek even processes it. Derek looks at her, and she’s frowning… They’d never actually said it out loud before, so Derek thought they just tolerated him. He’d learn to just assume the worst. 

“We bond over a mutual crush on our APUSH teacher- shut up, Derek we know it’s true- Isaac lets you take his chocolate pudding. You make him lunch because you know sometimes he goes to bed without dinner and you don’t ask about the cuts and bruises he comes to school with. You give us free mini blizzards when we go to Dairy Queen. You helped Boyd pass Chem last year and he helped you learn quadratic equations. I taught you how to frickin’ French braid. So yes Derek, we’re friends. You got that, idiot?” 

What most people expect from Erica is a meek little girl who won’t fight back. Those idiots don’t know Erica like Derek does. He saw the fire in her eyes the moment they met, and he loves seeing it come out. It is…unexpected to know they cared, and it’s nice. 

“Yeah,” he smiles. “I got it.”


	2. Chapter 2

After the events of the previous day, Derek feels a little embarrassed when he gets to class this afternoon. When he locks eyes with Mr. S, he gives him a relieved smile but manages to avoid drawing the attention of the whole class. The rest of the period is normal, and when the bell rings, Derek thinks that maybe Mr. S won't bring yesterday up. 

"Uh Derek? Can you hang back for a sec?"

No such luck. 

"Yeah, sure Mr. S," he catches Erica's eye, who winks at him conspiratorily before heading off. Mr. S is looking at him expectantly, half-sitting on the edge of his desk. He pats the spot beside him, and Derek leans against it, trying for nonchalant but probably missing by a mile. 

"How are you feeling today?" Mr. S asks cautiously.

"A lot better than yesterday, actually," and it was true. That 6 hour nap he took in school had been the best sleep he'd had in months. He even slept that night a bit as well. 

"I'm glad," Mr. S nods. "I just wanted to check on you. And..." he puts his hand on Derek's knee and squeezes lightly, friendly. "I also wanted to say thank you. For trusting me and opening up to me like that."

"Thank you for listening," Derek says breathlessly, trying not to look at Mr. S's hand resting innocently on his knee. But it's hard when the only other thing he can look at right now is his eyes, which are boring a hole into him and peering into his very being. 

"You can come to me for anything. If you need to talk, or rest, or eat a tub of ice cream, anything. I'm here for you, okay?"

"Okay," Derek thinks this is what hypnosis must feel like. "I work at Dairy Queen, though. So I don't need your ice cream, Mr. S."

Mr. S throws his head back laughing, and oh god he's so beautiful; Derek might just die. When he stops laughing, he looks at Derek with an unreadable expression. 

"Call me Stiles," he winks. "But not in class. Can't have everyone knowing I've got a favorite." 

"Stiles..." Derek tries it out on his tongue. It feels different, not unpleasant. It makes him feel more mature, like he's been accepted into a club he's been dying to get into and it's just as awesome as he's imagined. He can't surpress a pleased grin. "I'm... Your favorite?" 

"Mm-hmm," Mr. S- no, Stiles- grins conspiratorily and bumps his shoulder against Derek's. "But that doesn't automatically mean you're gonna ace my class. You've gotta earn it." Derek's mind helpfully supplies a conversation he heard where those two girls were willing to stay after class and "earn extra credit". He blushes and derails that thought immediately. Stiles laughs at him goodnaturedly. "Aw, come on, you know I'm teasing! You're gonna do fine. Now don't you wanna go and get lunch? I know I do." 

"I...uh," and Derek knows he's pushing it, but he doesn't want this moment to end just yet. "I actually packed my lunch, so, uh... I could...stay?" Stiles looks surprised, but bounces back easily. 

"You'd rather have lunch with me than your friends?"

"What's one time?" Hopefully, it wouldn't be just one time. "They won't mind." 

Stiles still looks dubious. "I didn't pack my lunch." 

"You can share mine," Derek winces; he probably sounds too enthusiastic. "I mean... I usually pack extra." For Isaac. But Stiles doesn't need to know that. "Next time...it'll be your treat." He tries to make it a joke, but he can't tell how well it went over. He holds up the sandwich. "It's PBJ."

"Next time, huh," Stiles smirks. "I see how it is. Well, who am I to turn down free food?" He takes the proferred sandwich and starts pulling the crust off. 

Derek pulls out his phone to let Erica know he won't be at lunch.

_Are you on a lunch date w mr s? U suck!_

_Shut up. No._

_U so r. I Hate u. I'm stealing ur pudding cup. U don't deserve it._

_Fine, fine. Whatever._

"Girlfriend upset you're ditching her for your APUSH teacher?" Stiles asks, popping a piece of the torn off crust into his mouth. Derek almost chokes on his sandwich. 

"Erica's not- we aren't...I don't have a girlfriend," Derek coughs awkwardly. Stiles raises an eyebrow. 

"Boyfriend, then?" Derek's face reddens further as he shakes his head. Stiles laughs and is it just Derek, or does he sound a little nervous? "Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about this with your teacher."

"It's fine," Derek says hastily around his sandwich. He swallows before trying to speak again. "And you?"

"Hm?"

"Do you...have a girlfriend- o- or a boyfriend?" 

Stiles shrugs and shakes his head. "Nope," he pops the 'p'. "No strings attached." Derek has to fight down the urge to just up and kiss Stiles right then. After all, Just because he's single, doesn't mean he's into guys, let alone underage guys with bunny teeth and enough emotional baggage to fuel a Nicholas Sparks novel. 

The rest of lunch passes like a dream. Derek learns that Stiles likes the crust on his sandwiches, but only if its separated from the bread first. He learns his dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills, and he worries Stiles sick. He learns Stiles grew up in Beacon Hills with his best friend Scott, left town for college, but came back. Derek soaks in the information, the raw qualitative data of Stiles Stilinski, and he craves more. He wishes he could sit here with Stiles and eat sandwiches forever. But the world never does what Derek wants, and the bell rings. 

"Ahh, saved by the bell, huh? You're probably bored of hearing me talk."

"Never," Derek responds fiercely. Stiles chuckles but doesn't reply, chooses instead to try to shoot his trash into a nearby bin, and fail spectacularly. He doesn't look too bothered by it, though, and walks over to where it flew to dispose of it properly. 

"You should probably head off to your next class," Stiles tells him. "Wouldn't want you to be late on my account."

And Derek wants to tell him that he would, that he'd do anything on Stiles' account. He chooses, instead, to say, "Okay."

"And don't worry, I won't forget I owe you a lunch," Stiles smiles and pats him on the back. It feels like he's pushing Derek out of the room. "See you in class, Derek." 

\--------------------------

"Compare and contrast 'loose constructionism' and 'strict constructionism'. What is the basis of support for each position." Derek is lying face down on his bed with his open textbook, Erica occupying his desk chair and swiveling back and forth. 

"Loose constructionism is the idea that the Constitution is a living document- okay, no I can't do this." Derek lifts his head up, looks at her curiously. "We are not going to pretend you didn't go on a date with our super hot teacher." 

"It wasn't a date," Derek groans and buries his head into his pillow. 

"Denial's not just a river in Egypt," Erica teases. "Besides, you're practically glowing."

"I am not." He isn't. Is he? "Just drop it, we gotta study for that quiz Wednesday." 

"Fine."

\--------------------

That Wednesday, both Erica and Derek ace their quizzes (a first for Erica, Derek's third) and Mr. Stilinski puts shiny, smiley face stickers on both their papers. Erica carefully peels hers off and sticks it to the back of her phone. She steals Derek's and sticks it on his phone as well.

He doesn't take it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found some extra stuff I didn't put in the first chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

“Mr. S really should know how to set his privacy settings,” Erica says without warning when Derek answers his phone. Derek rolls his eyes.

“Maybe he expects his students to respect his privacy when he says they can’t become Facebook friends until after they graduate,” he responds. Erica scoffs.

“He gives teenagers way too much credit. I sent you a link, hurry up and click it.”

“This isn’t one of those videos where a guy has half his face blown off from using a plugged-in iPhone, is it?” Derek’s stomach churns at the thought. 

“No, you idiot, just click the damn link.” Derek sighs and sets down his phone, speakerphone turned on. He pulls up Facebook on his laptop, opens his messages, and clicks the link. 

Then he proceeds to almost fall out of his chair.

“His friends are terrible and I love them for it,” Erica chirps gleefully, interrupting Derek’s stunned silence. Derek isn’t sure if he agrees with the sentiment or not. The link is a photo on Stiles’ profile, captioned “Throwback to our wild days- best costume now and forever”. The photo looks like it was taken at a party, with the crappy lighting and slightly blurry edges. Stiles looks young in the photo, ridiculously so, with his hair buzzed down and his wide smiling mouth. His arm is draped over another boy’s shoulder, who has wild, fluffy hair and a crooked jaw open in a dramatic snarl. He has plastic fangs in his mouth and pointy ears on his head and his shirt is in tatters, showing off his muscles. But he’s not what’s interesting about this photo. Stiles is. Stiles is- 

Stiles is wearing a frilly red dress to his mid thighs and a white apron. Hanging half off his head is a shiny red cloak, and he has a small basket in the crook of his arm. He is also wearing white knee high socks, which do little to hide his very long, very hairy legs.   
Derek is going to die. 

“How did you even find this?” He chokes out at last.

“You’d be surprised what I will do to avoid writing an essay on the oil industry.”  
\-----------------------

Erica, Isaac, and Derek take Cora trick-or-treating. Erica spends most of her free time at the Hale residence, showing Cora fun crafts she learned to amuse herself as an only child. Cora still has the paper frog Erica made with her. Derek sometimes catches her at the dining table, pushing down on the paper frog’s back and watching it hop. Isaac had been there that night as well, failing miserably at following Erica’s instructions until Cora reached over and folded it for him. Derek hadn’t seen her interact with someone willingly in so long, he figured he had to invite them to come with them on Halloween. 

Isaac’s dressed like a ninja, which just means he’s wearing all black, a ski mask, and two child-sized plastic swords strapped high on his shoulders. Erica is Bubbles, wearing a simple blue dress with a black belt and her hair in two high ponytails. 

Cora is dressed as a generic, pink princess. Her hair is half up in a braided hairstyle Erica found on Pinterest. To match, Derek has a plastic crown on his head and simple, button down shirt. 

They go through a few streets in the neighborhood. Cora usually only walks one or two, but she has more energy this year. Derek is thankful for that. The closer it gets to winter, the more nervous she gets, but she’s been getting better over the years. Slowly.

The last house they visit before going back to the house doesn’t have a bowl of candy on the front porch like it normally does. Derek gently nudges Cora to ring the doorbell. 

“Erica? Derek?” 

Oh.

Oh no. 

“Mr. S?” Erica looks at him curiously. Derek can’t even breathe. Stiles is dressed in a deputy costume- one that looked way more real than the store bought kind. It fit him so nicely. Derek had never seen him in short sleeves before. Apparently, Derek had a thing for forearms. Who knew?

“Trick or treat.” Cora says softly, jarring Derek out of his inappropriately timed thoughts. Stiles looks down at her and smiles. He kneels down to meet her eye level, a large bowl of candy in his arms.

“Hello there, you must be Cora.” Cora nods slowly. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you. Here, take your pick.”   
“I didn’t know you lived in our neighborhood,” Derek says as Cora sifts through the bowl. 

“Oh, I don’t, but my dad lives here and he’s on patrol. You know how crazy people get on Halloween.” 

“Your dad, the sheriff,” Derek realizes. He’d never really pieced that together before. To him, Stiles was just Stiles or Mr. S. It was easy to forget his name was Stilinski. Stiles grins. 

“Yup, that’s where I got this,” he shrugs his shoulders, gesturing to his deputy costume, and winks. “Vintage.” 

Cora finishes picking out a few Reese’s cups from the bowl and says a soft thank you. Stiles looks at what she picked while he gets back up. 

“You’re very welcome. And may I say, you have excellent taste, your highness.” Cora’s mouth upticks slightly.

“Well, you kids better head back now. It’s getting late.” 

“Thanks, Mr. S! See you tomorrow.” Erica waves. Stiles waves back as he closes the door. As they walk back, Isaac finally speaks.

“So that was him?” 

“Yup. The light of Derek’s life.” Erica laughs. 

“Shut up!”

\-----------------------  
The weekend before school lets out, Erica drags Derek to the mall for Christmas shopping. Derek doesn’t mind going to the mall with her, but this is the worst time to go shopping ever and they both know this. Here he is anyway, because Erica has something she’s dying to show him.

Apparently that something is one of those stupid fluffy animal hats with the long ears that you can stick your hands in. Erica points it out and grins triumphantly.

“I dare you, Derek Hale, to buy that for our history teacher.”

“Absolutely not. Also,” Derek gives her an unimpressed look. “You dare me? Are we twelve?” 

“Come on! It’s funny,” Erica protests, pouting. “Get it? Because he was Little Red Riding Hood in that photo!”

“He doesn’t even know that we know about that!” 

“It’s cute regardless. Come on, you can’t just get him a lame gift.”

“Why do I have to get him a gift at all?” Derek cheeks color and Erica boops him on the nose.

“Because you need to profess your undying love.”

"I hate you so much."  
\-----------------------  
It’s five minutes after the last bell before Christmas break, while everyone quickly runs to their freedom, Derek and Erica are standing in front of Stiles’ room. Derek fiddles with the blue tissue paper in the gift bag he’s holding. Erica rolls her eyes.

“God, Derek it looks fine.” She grabs the door handle and pushes the door in.

“Hey Mr. S!” She calls out. Stiles looks up and smiles when he sees them. “We brought presents!” 

“What, really?” God, could his smile get any brighter? Derek swears his smile could power the sun. He’s going to do something embarrassing like say that out loud and Erica will laugh at him forever and then he will die. Derek thrusts his arms out towards Stiles, the small, sparkly bag hanging from his hands. Stiles takes it from him gently. Erica hands him a small card.

“Aw, thank you guys so much! That’s so sweet. Can I open it now?” Derek wants to say no, it’s against the spirit of Christmas, and also Derek doesn’t want to see his face when he opens the stupid present Derek got for him. But Stiles looks so excited, all that comes out is a choked, “Sure.” Stiles grins and opens Erica’s card, which contained a Starbucks gift card. He extends his arms towards her and she gives him a big hug.

“Thank you, Erica. You understand my caffeine addiction.” 

“You’re welcome,” Erica gives Derek a dirty grin. He hates that she got to give him a normal, sane, teacher-appropriate present. Stiles lets Erica go and digs his hand into into his gift bag. He pulls out the hat and gives it a once-over.

“Aw, hey! It’s a little dog.”

“It’s a wolf,actually,” Erica grins. “Like the Big Bad Wolf from the Little Red Riding Hood?” Stiles turns red and chokes.

“What?”

“It was her idea!” Derek flushes, matching Stiles’ own color, and his voice goes high and squeaky. 

“I just brought you to the mall, Derek,” Erica says over him. “We just saw it and though it was nice. Right?” She looks at him, pointedly. Derek gulps and nods his head.

“You mentioned going to Big Bear over the break. So we- uh, I thought you’d need to keep warm.” Stiles’ cheeks are still flushed and he isn’t looking at them. Derek wants to groan in frustration. He is the opposite of smooth and Erica knows this; why are they doing this? Stiles probably thinks Derek is a creep for looking up his teacher on Facebook! He didn’t mean to, it was Erica’s fault, why does he get the blame? Oh god, Stiles won’t let him hang out in his room anymore and there goes his one safe haven outside of his house-

Stiles puts his hand on his shoulder, jarring Derek out of his thoughts. Stiles gives him the warmest smile and suddenly Derek’s heart is melting in his chest. 

“Thank you. This is actually pretty useful. My friends are going to love seeing me in this.” Stiles winks. “I’m still going to kill them for posting that photo, though.”

“So your not mad that we saw it?” Derek blurts out. Erica looks at him curiously, as if she’s surprised he thought Stiles would actually be upset.

“Of course not. I’m embarrassed beyond belief, sure. But I shouldn’t be surprised you’d want to see if your teacher was on Facebook.”

“If it helps, you look very nice in a skirt,” Erica chimes in. Stiles throws his head back in laughter. Derek’s still frozen with his hand on his shoulder. 

“I absolutely do not, but I appreciate the sentiment. Scott’s never going to let me live that costume down, but hey, when you’re young and stupid, everything sounds like a good idea.” Stiles pauses. “That is not me giving you the ok to do dangerous things.”

“Because we’re such troublemakers,” Erica smirks. 

“Do as I say, not as I do.” Stiles glances at the clock. “Anyways, you guys should probably get going. Thank you again for the wonderful gifts.” He pats Derek a few times on the back before steering them both towards the door.

“Now go! Shoo! Do...whatever it is young people do now when they don’t have school.” 

“Be young and stupid?” Derek gives a little half smile. Erica laughs; Stiles rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“Merry Christmas, you two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, a part of me just wants to do this HUGE time skip so I can get Derek to college because I am remembering nothing about junior/senior year. But I banged this out real quick so I could move this train along.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow it's been a long time! I didn't think so many people read this fic- I hope you all enjoy it! I'm sorry I can't guarantee when I will update, but I promise I'll do my best. Also, apologies if this chapter feels rushed; It's been a few years since I was in high school, so I don't really remember much in terms of classes, etc.

Second semester of junior year is a blur of practice exams and standardized testing. Stiles asks Derek to be his student aid for senior year, which he readily accepts. Erica acts incredibly jealous that Derek can spend time with their mutual crush, but Derek knows she’s growing closer to Boyd. Derek gets a 5 on his APUSH test, which is unbelievable and when he tells Stiles he receives an email with about a million smiley faces. 

Summer consists of work, with Erica dragging Boyd to Dairy Queen to bother Derek and the other customers with their gross PDAs, and writing college essays. A part of Derek wants to get far away from Beacon Hills, follow Laura’s footsteps and just disappear, but he can’t do that to Cora. Beacon Hills University isn’t a bad school, Derek shouldn’t feel like he’s limiting himself, but having the option to leave would be nice. 

Just a thought. 

At least Derek will have an easier year this time around.

\--------------------------

Being Stiles’ TA is pretty basic, making copies of handouts and grading the multiple choice section of the exams. Stiles is good company, easier and even more friendly now that Derek is out of his class. Derek complains about his AP Calculus class; Stiles shares stories about his roommate Scott, the veterinarian assistant. 

Scott is also getting married, which is giving Stiles such a complex. 

“I’m going to grow old and die alone,” Stiles wails and drops his head in his arms resting on the table. “Don’t be like me, Derek! An old, lonely man...”

“You could always get a cat.” Derek doesn’t even look up from the paper he’s grading. Stiles makes an affronted, melodramatic noise and clutches his chest.

“I can’t get a cat! That’ll just seal my old lonely cat lady status!”

“I like cats.”

“Sure, but that’s cute on you. You’re a young, intelligent, good-looking kid, not an old, sad, lonely man like me.”

Derek can feel his face heat up at the compliment. “You’re not old,” he mumbles. “And you’re smart and good-looking… Anybody would be lucky to date you.” Derek won’t look him in the eye, but he can practically feel the warmth Stiles is radiating at him. 

“Awww, you’re sweet.”

—————————————  
“So where are you going to college?” Stiles asks one day during lunch. It’s the third quarter; most students have already gotten their acceptance letters and forgetting about passing their current classes. Erica is sitting with them, finishing her government discussion board assignment 20 minutes before it was due. Derek swallows a bite of his apple before answering.

“I was planning on Beacon Hills University for architecture.”

“You don’t want to escape town the first chance you get?” Stiles’ tone is light, but Derek can tell he’s disappointed. “Nothing wrong with that, if that’s what you really want. You’re a really smart kid; I bet you could go anywhere you wanted.”

“He wants to go to New York,” Erica buts in, the traitor. Derek shoves her and steals one of her animal crackers. 

“I also have a bunch of family obligations here.”

Stiles nods. “I hear that. It’s mostly why I came back here too. And this is a good town, nice place to settle down and start a family.”

“Ooh Mr. S,” Erica flutters her eyelashes dramatically. “Planning on settling down already?” Derek’s stomach lurches. He can almost picture coming home from work and seeing Stiles on his couch, playing with a squirmy baby in his lap. And when he catches sight of Derek, his eyes will light up and he’ll say softly, ‘welcome home, we missed you’.

Derek shakes himself out of his daydream. Stiles always complained about being single, so he knew Stiles didn’t have any immediate plans to find a wife. Derek would probably be one of the first people to know if Stiles started dating someone; he always confided in Derek.

“Quite the opposite actually. I was planning on going back to school.”

Well, maybe not always. 

“You’re what?” Derek chokes and takes a swig from his water bottle to cover it. Erica raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah, after you kids graduate I’ll be going to Berkeley.”

“What happened to your ‘family obligations’?” Derek tries not to sound too bitter. He doesn’t know why he’s upset. He knows he hoped he would see Stiles around town since he was staying in Beacon Hills, but that couldn’t be all.

“My dad getting remarried in May; I met his fiancé over Christmas,” Stiles snorts. “Actually, I’ve met her already. She’s Scott’s mom. Practically raised me herself. But I know I want to give them some space seeing as they’ll be newlyweds and all. And you kids are great and all, but I just feel like I need to be doing more.”

“Well congrats,” Erica nods at him. Derek grunts in begrudging agreement. “Hope you find what you’re looking for.”

\--------------------------

“I don’t want to do anythiiiiiiiiing,” Erica whines, flopping onto Derek’s bed gracelessly. 

“Don’t you have, like, 2 exams and a presentation due?” 

“Yeah but I don’t want to do them, Derek. Let them fail me, really. I just want to lie here and do nothing.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Okay the failing thing, obviously not.”

 

\--------------------------

Erica doesn’t fail. She graduates and when she walks across the stage to receive her diploma, Derek doesn’t think she’s ever looked more radiant. Boyd seems to think so as well, and when Erica catches him beaming at her, she blows him a kiss before taking her seat. She’s really grown into herself this year, Derek thinks. He likes to think they all have. Isaac stands a little bit taller when he’s around them, and Boyd smiles more often. 

Derek is glad they are all staying in Beacon Hills as well; he doesn’t want to admit it, but he was worried about being lonely in college. Making friends in high school was hard enough, and while Derek thinks he’s grown up a lot these past four years, not everything has changed. 

They take pictures together outside the school, Isaac throwing bunny ears behind Boyd’s head when he thinks he can get away with it, Boyd letting Isaac think he’s getting away with it. Erica drags Derek over to Stiles, demanding he take a picture with them. 

“We’re all staying in town so we don’t technically even need these pictures together, but you’re the one who’s leaving,” her eyes are a little shiny with unshed tears. “We really will miss you.”

Stiles smile softens after she takes the photo. “I’ll miss you guys too. And hey, I’ll be back in town for the holidays. And you can add me on Facebook now that I’m not your teacher.”

Erica insists on a solo one of just Stiles and Derek before running off to find some other classmates. Derek and Stiles are alone.

“I really will miss you,” Stiles says, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“You were the best teacher I’ve ever had,” Derek chokes out, fighting back tears. Stiles pulls him into a hug and Derek tries not to get snot all over Stiles suit as he rest his head on his shoulder. 

“I never realized you’re taller than me.” Stiles says jokily, but his voice is a little thick and crackly. “You’ve really grown up, Derek. Thank you for letting me be a part of that.”

They let go of each other then, and Stiles punches him lightly in the shoulder. “We’ll see each other again.”

Derek waves goodbye and starts heading back to the others when he sees her, standing away from the crowds and staring intently at him. He blinks, not wanting to believe it, or dare to hope, but he’d know that face anywhere. 

“Laura?”


	5. Chapter 5

“Congratulations, Derek,” Laura says softly.

_Where have you been all this time_ , Derek wants to ask. _Where did you go, why did you leave me and Cora? Did you hate me that much?_ But what comes out is a choked, “Thanks.”

“You’ve gotten so big now,” she continues, smiling in a way that makes her look like she’s in pain. Her eyes won’t meet his, flicking to his ears, his hairline. 

“Three years will do that to you,” he snaps back and Laura flinches. She looks down at her shoes. 

“I know. I...Derek...I know you don’t owe me anything, at all,” Laura starts, placing her hands on the table. “I just came to say...I’m sorry. For leaving. For everything.

“When Mom and Dad died, I just...I couldn’t handle it,” tears well up in her eyes. “It was easier to just throw myself into school. That wasn’t fair to you or Cora, and I can’t even begin to apologize enough to you for that.”

Derek is silent for a long time. He feels separated from his body, watching this moment like it’s a TV show and he’s lost the remote. He remembers, vaguely, times in his life when he’s felt angry at Laura for leaving. But it never stays, it merely would circle, the blame pointing right back to him. He couldn’t really fault Laura for leaving. He would have left himself a long time ago. How could he expect her to live with the murderer of his parents when most days he didn’t want to live with himself? 

“Why didn’t you take Cora with you?”

“I was a college student, Derek. What could I have done for her? I thought I was doing the right thing, leaving her with Peter. I didn’t think he’d...respond the way he did to Mom dying. I should have, he was her brother. I thought he would step up; I didn’t think he needed to grieve because I was a stupid kid,” Laura fights to keep her voice steady. She reaches her hand out for Derek’s, but he flinches back. She puts her hand down, but she looks Derek straight in the eye when she says: “We were all just stupid kids.”

Derek’s eyes sting, but he keeps her gaze. He can’t stop his voice from shaking. “Do you blame me?” Laura’s eyes are wide, uncomprehending. She shakes her head fiercely, and takes Derek’s hand in both of hers. 

“Derek, no, of course not! How could you even-”

“I thought,” and now that he’s saying it he can’t stop. “I thought you hated me. For killing them. I thought- I-”

“You thought I left you,” Laura realizes. “You thought I blamed you for their death and _left_ you.” She grips his hand tighter. “Oh god, Derek, no. Derek, look at me. _Look at me._ ” 

Derek can’t look at her. The tears are flowing freely and he can’t stop them. “Look at me,” she repeats, soft but still firm. He tries to look at her. “I. Do Not. Blame. You. You hear me? I do not blame you for what happened to Mom and Dad. That was an accident. That was some drunk asshole driving late at night.”

“If I hadn’t gotten them out of the house-”

“You didn’t drive that car. It wasn’t your fault.” Her gaze is piercing, but Derek can tell. She means every word.. He’s spent so much time blaming himself, thinking no one else has called him on his crime, but here’s Laura, who left and came back, telling him it wasn’t his fault. He feels like being pulled out from under water. He can breathe again, and he isn’t exactly healed, but he thinks maybe he can get there.


End file.
